


Curiosity Shopping

by MarsDragon



Category: Castlevania 白夜の協奏曲 | Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 22:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16458209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsDragon/pseuds/MarsDragon
Summary: The merchant has such odd things for sale...





	Curiosity Shopping

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mieldyne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mieldyne/gifts).



The first time Juste found the room, it was empty. He made a note of it on the map he was making and moved on.

The second time Juste found the room, it was still empty. He rested there for a time, enjoying the respite from the monsters. He found a short list of numbers carved into one corner, but not being able to make heads or tails of it during his stay, he made another note on his map and left. 

The third time Juste found the room, the merchant was there.

"This is new. Have you decided to move your shop?" he asked, after standing in the doorway for the tiniest bit too long.

"What do you mean? I never move," the merchant replied. Despite Juste's best efforts, the man had never admitted a name. "It is you who come and go constantly. If I were to leave, the monsters would eat me in an instant!"

Juste nodded absently. It was true the merchant stood no chance against the monsters of Dracula's castle. Any magic he possessed was too weak for Juste to sense, he held no weapons, and his arms showed he rarely lifted anything heavier than a ledger. In fact, Juste had never seen the merchant leave his seat in the midst of his goods. The only movement the man made was swaying back and forth as if he danced to music only he could hear.

But the room was clearly marked as empty on Juste's map. Though he often doubted his memories of this strange, dream-like castle, his map had never led him wrong. He checked and double checked every room he saw, putting only full certainty down to paper. 

The room had been empty.

Attempting to hide his wandering thoughts, Juste perused the goods for sale. Some items were common: small potions for the body and for the mind, cheap armor that didn't stand up to Dracula's minions, swords, daggers, and other weapons Juste had no need of. The merchant always had those, and Juste usually ignored them.

But the merchant had other things as well. Juste found a fine set of silver boots he was sure hadn't been there before, two gold candlesticks that somehow clashed with every other candlestick in the castle, some sort of clockwork mechanism, a larger bottle of healing potion, a slim metal rectangle covered on one side with the finest dark glass Juste had ever seen, a fine ring that had a strong aura of fighting spirit, and a small box of plain wood. Juste opened it and found a mummified human hand.

He cursed and threw it away in startled shock. "Merchant! Do you know what that is? Remains like that are only used in the blackest rituals!" His hand went to the Vampire Killer without thought.

"Is it?" The merchant gave the fallen hand a calculating look. His jewelry clinked together as he swayed. "But it might be the hand of a saint."

That was true, Juste had to admit, as he lowered his own hand from the holy whip. He had reacted badly after so long in the castle. The hand could be the relic of a saint, but... "But then why is it in such a plain box? The hand of a saint should be honored with gold and jewels."

The merchant shrugged. "Perhaps the saint was a humble man. Or woman."

"You don't know?"

"I buy and sell goods, hunter. I cannot verify the story of every one."

Juste made a noise of impatience. "But did you get a story for this one? At least to know if it is good or evil?"

"I cannot recall." The merchant smiled in a way that seemed somehow unhealthy, despite the comfortable color of his cheeks. "Perhaps it is blackest magic, perhaps it is a holy relic. Or perhaps it is an ordinary man's hand and is simply a curiosity. 17,000 gold."

Juste looked again at the hand lying on the floor. He could not sense anything...but the castle was such a thing of evil that it clouded his mind simply to be inside it. He knelt and reached out to carefully return the hand to its resting place. If nothing else, it was once a person's, and so must be treated gently. 

The edges of the wrist bore a delicate pattern of scales. 

Juste murmured something about not being able to afford it and closed the box.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta.


End file.
